Rotary sheet fed machine



Aug. 12, 1969 R. K. NORTON ROTARY SHEET FED MACHINE 9 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Dec. 28, 1966 IN VENTOR R086??? K. NORTON V ATTORNE Y8 Aug. 12, 1969 R. K. NORTON H 3,460, 73

ROTARY SHEETVFED MACHINE Filed Dec. 28, 1966 9 sheets-sheet 2 202 PC?) OFF lMPRE-SS/ON ATTORNEYS A 2, 1969 R K. NORTON 3,460,473

. ROTARY SHEET FED MACHINE Filed Dec. 28. 1966 i 9 Sheets-Sheet s 'PEGPRE as ram 660 I I MEIPP I l 661cm aide 4 70 I 703 A'M-GWQ I Giff/NG- 7/4 Ell? m/ VENTOR ROBlf/E'T K. NORTON ww gawww 7 FIG. 5A

g, 2, 1969 R. K. NORTON 3,460,473

ROTARY SHEET FED MACHINE Filed Dec. 28, 1966 9 Sheets-Sheet 4.

usrow/r FIG5B 9:402 69/CR-l/ IN VEN TOR ROBERT K. NORTON ,4 7'7'ORNE vs Aug. 12, 1969 R. K. NORTON 3,460,473

ROTARY SHEET FED MACHINE Filed Dec. 28, 1966 9 Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTOR. ROBERT K. NORTON 4% BY W, Wiggle/V5 s 12, 1969 R. K. NORTON 3,460,473

ROTARY SHEET FED MACHINE 9 Sheets-Sheet 7 Filed Dec. 28, 1966 H6 H INVENTOR ROBERT K. NORTON A TTORNE vs Aug. 12, 1969 R. K. NORTON ROTARY SHEET FED MACHINE 9 Sheets-Sheet 8 Filed Dec. 28 1966 A Ti'OkT/VE x5 INVENTOR. ROBERT K. MORTON R. K. NORTON ROTARY SHEET FED MACHINE Aug. 12, 1969 9 Sheets-Sheet 9 Filed Dec. 28. 1966 INVENTOR. W673i K. NORTON United States Patent 3,460,473 ROTARY SHEET FED MACHINE Robert K. Norton, Twinshurg, Ohio, assignor to Harris Intertype Corporation, Cleveland, Ohio, a corporation of Delaware Filed Dec. 28, 1966, Ser. No. 605,339 Int. Cl. B41f /16, 5/18, 13/24 U.S. Cl. 101-183 i 39 Claims The present invention relates to rotary sheet processing machines such as printing and, more particularly, to such machines having a sheet feeder and a delivery which provide for pile changing while the machine is in operation.

In certain conventional rotary sheet processing machines, such as printing presses, sheets are fed to the machine from pile feeders which enable the pile in the feeder to be replenished without interrupting the feeding operation. Problems, however, have been encountered in removing piled sheets from the sheet delivery while the machine is operating without losing sheets or disarranging the pile.

In the conventional sheet delivery, sheets are dropped onto a delivery hoist which is automatically lowered as the pile thereon builds up. When piled sheets are to be removed, the hoist is lowered and an auxiliary platen is inserted over the top of the pile to intercept the falling sheets. Conventionally the auxiliary platen has been inserted by the operator who attempts to time the insertion so that it occurs between sheets as they drop to the top of the pile on the main hoist of the delivery. It is difficult, however, toeffect the insertion withoutlosing a sheet and without combing other sheets so as to disarrange the pile being formed on the auxiliary platen. These problems are compounded as the speed of the press increases.

In accordance with the present invention, the feeding of sheets through the machineis momentarily interrupted without stopping the feeder for the machine or slowing down the operation of the machine or the feeder to provide a gap in the flow of sheets to the delivery to enable the auxiliary platen to be inserted while the sheet flow is interrupted.

A further aspect of the invention lies in maintaining a drive to the feeder during the sheet gap provided for pile removal purposes when the drive would normally be disconnected when a sheet is not properly fed.

In accordance with one feature of the present invention, the machine which is maintained at operating speed during sheet interruption has a plurality of sheet processing units which are thrown, at least in part, to a nonsheet processing condition when the feeding of the sheets is stopped to provide a gap in the flow of sheets and are automatically returned to a sheet processing condition when the feeding of sheets is resumed, although in the preferred practice the sheet engaging element itself is maintained in its operative position when this can be done without sheets being fed.

In accordance with a further aspect of the invention, the feeding of sheets is stopped by rendering gripping means for removing the sheets from the pile ineffective to take the sheets from the pile in succession even though they are operated through their normal cycle to grip and transfer a sheet. In the-preferred embodiment, the sheet gripping devices are vacuum actuated suckers and the vacuum is blocked from the suckers to render them incapable of lifting a sheet.

Another aspect of the present invention lies in providing an auxiliary platen which is automatically inserted by power means when the gap in the flow of sheets arrives at the feeder. Moreover, control means is preferably provided in the present invention to prevent the insertion ice if the main hoist has not been lowered so that the pile thereon is below the path for the auxiliary platen. In addition, the auxiliary platen, when inserted, is preferably lowered under the control of pile height detecting means as the pile builds up thereon.

In accordance with more specific features of the present invention, sheet detectors for normally effecting a control function, e.g. the disconnection and stopping of the feeder and a change in speed of a machine when a sheet is properly presented to a machine unit, are rendered ineffective during the pile changing operation for those machine cycles where sheets are to be missing because of the interruption of sheet feeding for pile changing purposes.

Also in accordance with the preferred embodiment of the present invention, control means is actuated on the interruption of the feeding of sheets to throw part of each unit to a non-sheet processing condition and, at this time, timing means for effecting the operation of machine units to a sheet processing condition as an initial sheet moves through the machine is turned off and reset and then rendered operative to actuate the units to their sheet processing condition as the feeding of sheets is again resumed. In the illustrated embodiment, the feed ing of sheets is resumed before the leading edge of the sheet gap reaches the last unit and while the timing means would normally be ineffecitve to actuate the units to a sheet processing condition until after the sheet gap reaches the last unit, the timing means in the preferred and illustrated embodiment, is rendered effective to actuate the units to their sheet processing condition before the gap reaches the last unit.

Further in accordance with the preferred form of the invention, the sheet engaging element of the processing unit is maintained in a sheet processing condition during the sheet gap even though the member would normally be thrown to a non-sheet processing position in the absence of sheets to be procesed.

Further features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent from the following detailed description with reference to the accompanying drawings forming a part of the present invention for all subject matter disclosed therein and in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic showing of a printing press embodying the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a view, somewhat diagrammatic, of a throw mechanism suitable for use in a printing press of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a view, somewhat diagrammatic, of another throw mechanism suitable for use in the type of printing press shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a diagrammatic circuit diagram of control circuitry for one of the printing units;

FIGS. 5A, 5B and 5C are a diagrammatic circuit diagram of part of the control circuit for the printing press of FIG. 1;

FIG. 6 is .a circuit diagram showing control relays for the printing press shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 7 is a schematic view of the feeder of the machine of FIG. 1;

FIG. 8 is a view showing a sheet detector used with the feeder;

FIG. 9 is a view, somewhat diagrammatic, of a drive to the feeder;

FIG. 10 is a view illustrating the delivery of the machine of FIG. 1;

FIG. 11 is a view showing mechanism for lowering the main hoist of the delivery;

FIG. 12 is a view looking approximately from line 12 of FIG. 10;

FIG. 13 is a fragmentary view showing one of the relays and the mechanism for operating the auxiliary platen; and

FIG. 14 is a view showing the mechanism for raising and lowering the auxiliary platen.

The present invention is illustrated in the drawings as being embodied in a six-color lithographic printing press. The illustrated units of the printing press which are shown have been designated by the reference characters A, B, C and each unit of the press includes plate, blanket and impression cylinders. The plate cylinders of the units have been given the reference numeral with the reference character of the printing unit as a sufiix while the same system has been utilized to identify the blanket cylinders using the reference number 13. Each of the printing units also includes an inking and dampening mechanism and the form rolls of the inking and dampening mechanism have been illustrated on certain of the printing units and the mechanism has been designated by the reference character 16 with the suffix indicating the particular unit.

Sheets to be printed in the printing press are fed by a pile feeder 17 down a feed board 18 to a feed cylinder 20 which conveys the sheets to an advance cylinder 21 which in turn conveys the sheets to the impression cylinder of the printing unit A. After the sheet is printed in the printing unit A, it is transferred to a double-size transfer cylinder 23 which conveys the sheet to the printing unit B. Similar double-size transfer cylinders 23 convey the sheets between all of the succeeding units. The impression cylinder of the last printing unit delivers the sheet to a delivery mechanism 26.

The printing units each include throw mechanisms for throwing the inking mechanism on and off relative to the plate cylinder, the pressure between the plate cylinder and the blanket cylinder on and off, and the pressure between the blanket cylinder and the impression cylinder on and off.

The mechanisms for throwing the inker on and off and the plate and impression pressures on and off are, in the illustrated embodiment, individually controllable. The mechanisms for accomplishing the respective throw on and throw off movements may basically comprise a cam for reciprocating a cam follower 31 carried by a lever 32 pivoted at one end and mounting the cam follower 31 at the other. The mechanism may further comprise a two positions by the throw member 33. When the shaft is ends and swingable to a first position where an abutment 35 thereon is adapted to engage a roller 36 as the throw member is reciprocated in a work stroke to move the roller 36 with the throw member and to rotate a shaft 37 in a clockwise direction. The throw member 33 may also be swung in the opposite direction to position a shoulder 38 on the throw member so as to engage a roller 40 on the opposite side of the shaft 37 from the roller 36 to move the roller 40 in a counterclockwise direction to rotate the shaft 37 as the throw member 33 is moved through its work stroke. The shaft 37 is operatively connected by means including an arm 39a and link 3% to the respective cylinder or inker to effect its throw on and throw off movements when the shaft is rotated between its two positions by the throw member 33. When the shaft is rotated in one direction the mechanism is thrown off and when the shaft is rotated in its other direction the motion is thrown on. The position of the throw member and, in turn, of the shaft, that is a throw on or throw off position, is controlled by the energization of solenoids S and S. One of the solenoids is energized to position the throw member 33 in a throw on position and the other is energized to position the throw member 33 in a throw off position. The solenoids S have been schematically indicated in FIG. 2.

In the description of the invention, the solenoids S are energized and de-energized at the proper time to effect a throw on and throw off of the particular motion. The solenoids S, S for controlling the various motions are given the same reference character in the description as the mechanism controlled thereby with an S appended thereto. For example, the solenoids for controlling the ink on and off of the first printing unit are given the same reference character as the inking mechanism with an S or S applied thereto. The solenoids for controlling the pressure between the plate and the blanket are referred to as controlling the plate on and off movement and have been given the same reference character as the plate cylinder with an S or S appended thereto. The solenoids for controlling the pressure betweeri the impression and blanket cylinder, impression on and off, have been given the same reference numeral as the impression cylinder with an S or S respectively appended thereto.

The type of throw mechanism illustrated in FIG. 2 initiates the work stroke to throw on or throw off at the same angular position of the impression cylinder of the corresponding printing unit. It may be desirable to initiate the work stroke for throwing off at a different angular position of the impression cylinder than that for throwing on. FIG. 3 illustrates how the throw mechanism may be modified to effect operation in the described mode. In FIG. 3, the mechanism includes a pair of cam followers 31 1, 3112 and a pair of pivoted arms 32a, 32b which are reciprocated by a cam 30a in an out of phase relationship. The pivoted arms 32a, 32b respectively have a roller 41, 42 thereon for effecting operation of a throw member 43 which is movable endwise in opposite directions to effect the throw on and throw off operations. The throw member is disposed between the rollers 40, 41 and has oppositely facing shoulders on opposite sides thereon which are adapted to be engaged by a respective one of the rollers to move the throw member in a respective endwise direction. The throw member is swing able between positions for causing a respective shoulder to be engaged by its corresponding roller by energizing one of a pair of solenoids S, S. If the solenoid S is energized, the throw member is positioned so that the roller 41 will move the throw member in one axial direction while if the solenoid S is energized, the throw member is positioned so that the roller 42 will move the throw member in the opposite direction. Once the throw member has been moved by a respective roller, continued reciprocation of the roller will have no effect unless the position of the throw memher is changed to position the throw member so that the other roller will engage the shoulder with which it coopenates. It will be noted that the pivot for the lever 32b is intermediate the cam follower 31b and roller 41 so that the roller 41 is moved positively through its work stroke.

In describing the present invention, the time of the throw on and throw off of each movement will be referenced to the time which it occurs within a single press revolution as measured from a press 0. In throwing a printing unit on or off, the plate, ink and impression motions occur in sequence within 360 of press rotation. In certain types of printing presses, the throw on and throw off motions for the various units occur at the same angular position in the press revolution. This type of printing press may be described as one in which the operating units are in phase. In other types of printing presses, the various printing units are thrown on and off at different times in a press revolution and these printing presses may be described as printing presses where the units are out of phase with each other.

As is well understood by those skilled in the art, the printing units in a printing press are thrown on in sequence as a sheet comes through the printing press and are thrown off in sequence as the last sheet proceeds through the printing press. The first printing unit is thrown on within the first press revolution of the press as a sheet moves to be printed by the first printing unit and the following printing unit is thrown on during a subsequent revolution of the printing press to allow the sheet time to move from the first printing unit to the second printing unit. Similarly, the throw on of the third printing unit is delayed to allow the sheet to move from the second to the third, etc.

In the illustrated press, the printing units operate in an out of phase relationship and the various motions of the printing press are thrown on and off in response to pulse signals which occur at predetermined times during the press revolution to set the throw mechanism to eifect the respective throw on and throw off movements. Aswill be understood by those skilled in the art the actual throw on or throw olt movement does not necessarily occur at the time the solenoid is energized since the solenoid merely sets the throw. mechanism to be operated by the cam at the proper time in the press revolution.

In the illustrated embodiment, a throw mechanism is provided for each of the plate, ink and impression. movements and a solenoid is provided for throwing the respective movement on and one is provided for throwingthe respective movement off. When the particular movement is to be thrown on, the on solenoid is energized and when the particular movement is to be thrown off, the off solenoid is energized. A relay controls the solenoidsand has normally open contacts which are closed to energize the on solenoid and normally closed contacts which energize the off solenoid when the relay is tieenergized. As illustrated in FIG. 4, relays 50, 51 and 52 respectively control the solenoids for the plate movement, the ink movement and the impression movement of eachprinting unit.

The energization of the solenoids for controlling the movements is controlled, in theillustrated and preferred embodiment, by static logic circuitry operated in response to pulses derived from a pulse generator 55 shown diagrammatically in the drawings in FIG. 5C, The logic circuits for controlling the relays ,50, 51 and 52 are substantially the same for the various printing units and the logic circuitry for controlling the plate, ink and impression movements of No. 2 printing unit, unit B, is shown in FIG. 4. In the preferred embodiment the dampeners for the press are controlled by the operator sequentially from the inker throw mechanisms. As shown in FIG. 4, :the logic circuits for the printing unit B includes an ON AND gate 60 which is conditioned to effect a setting of-the plate tripping mechanism at the proper time in the press cycle when the unit is to be thrown on, an OFF AND gate 62 for passing a timing signal to de-energize the relay 50 to set the trip mechanism to throw oif the plate, and a master trip (MT) AND gate 63 for efiecting a tripping of the plate mechanism in response to a. master trip signal. a p t At the start of a printing operation, the plate of the printing unit B is to be thrown on pressure in the press revolution after the press revolution in which the preceding printing unit, the printing unit A, has been thrown on; Similarly, the plate unit for the following units are to be thrown on in sequence in subsequent press revolutions. The ON gate 60 for tripping on the plate movement of the printing unit has three inputs, an ON-input for receiv ing an ON conditioning signal signifying that the plate is to be tripped on at the proper time in the press operation, a N input to which a N'signal, N(2) in the case of the unit B, is applied during the press revolution in which the plate movement is to be tripped on, and a P input connection where a P input signal, P(11) inthe case of the unit B, appears at the angular position in the press revolution at which the trip mechanism is to be set to an on condition. When all three inputs are applied to the input connections of the ON gate 60, an output appears on an output connection d of the ON gate 60 and this output is applied to one input of a logic circuit 76 which may be described as a SEALED AND circuit. The SEALED AND circuit 76 has threeinput connections 76a, 76b, 76c and the output connection 60d of the ON gate 60 is applied to the inputconnection 76a. The AND gate 76 has an output connection 76d upon which an output appears when an input is applied to all three of the input connections thereto. The dashed line in the drawings from the output 76d to the input of the circuit 76 indicates that the inputs 76a, 76b may be removed without a loss of the output from the output connection 76d. When the plate is to be thrown on during normal operation, the inputs 76b and 76c will normally have inputs applied thereto from a counter transition line 80 and an OR NOT gate 82 which has an output on its output connection 82d except when the mechanism is to be in an ofl? condition. 7

The output which appears on the output connection 76d of the SEALED AND circuit 76 is applied to an AND gate 85. The AND gate 85 has an input 85a to which the output connection of the SEALED AND gate 76 is connected and an input 85b which during normal operation has an input signal applied thereto by a bistable memory circuit 88 which may be turned on and olT to selectively throw the unit between processing and nonsheet processing conditions during machine operation. The AND gate 85 has an output connection 85d upon which an output appears when an input is applied to both of the inputs 85a, 85b and a NOT output 85e upon which an output appears when an input signal is not present on both the input connections 85a, 85b. The output connection 85a is connected to a driver amplifier whose output is used to energize the relay 50. Consequently, when an output appears on the output connection 90d of the OR gate 90, the relay 50 will be energized to energize the ON solenoid to set the plate throw mechanism to throw the plate on pressure at the proper point in the revolution of the printing unit as determined by the cam of the mechanism.

When the relay 50 is energized as the result of an output from the SEALED AND circuit 76, the relay will be de-energized to etfect an energization of the oif solenoid 108 to set the trip mechanism to trip the plate of? if the output on the output connection 76d of the SEALED AND gate 76 is lost. The input 76c of the SEALED AND circuit 76 is, as noted above, connected to the output of the OR NOT gate 82. The OR NOT gate 82 has three inputs 82a, 82b, 820. The input 82a normally has an input signal applied thereto during the operation of the press from a connection 107 connected to the output of an input signal generator 108. The input signal generator 108 is connected to a power source to provide the input signal through the normally open contacts 111-1 of a unit lock-out relay 111. The unit lockout relay 111 is tie-energized except when the unit is not to be used and the signal originator is normally ineflective to apply an input signal to the OR NOT gate 82 which would cause a loss of output on the gate output connection 82d.

The inputs 82b, 82c of the OR NOT gate 82 are connected to the outputs of AND gates 62, 63. The output of the OFF AND gate 62 is connected to the input connection 82b of the OR NOT gate 82 while the output of the master trip AND gate 63 is connected to the input connection 820. If an output appears on from either of the AND gates 62, 63, the OR NOT gate 82 will lose its output to the input 760 of the SEALED AND circuit 76. The loss of the signal on the input 760 of the SEALED AND circuit 76 will cause a loss of output on the output connection 76d and the loss of the output from AND gate 85 to in turn cause a de-energization of the relay 50 to de-energize the solenoid 10$ for setting the mechanism in a trip on condition and energize the solenoid 10$ for setting the mechanism to trip ofi.

The OFF gate 62 is a three input AND gate. One input connection has an OFF conditioning signal applied thereto when the plate is to be tripped off, a second input connection will have an F signal F (2) applied thereto during the revolution of the press during which the trip off is to occur, and a third input connection will have a P input signal applied thereto at the angular position in the press revolution where the trip mechanism is to be set to trip oif the unit. When a press unit is to be tripped ofi during normal operation, the first printing unit trips ofi during one press revolution, the second printing unit will trip off during a subsequent press revolution to permit the last sheet printed in the first printing unit to be printed in the second printing unit, the third printing unit will trip off during a press revolution subsequent to that of the second printing unit to allow the last sheet to be printed in the third printing unit, etc. During trip oif, the F input connection of gate 62 does not have an input signal applied thereto until the proper revolution for the trip off to occur. The P input connection 620 has a P signal applied thereto during each press revolution at the proper point in the press revolution that the trip mechanism is to be set to trip the plate off. Similarly, the MT gate 63 has three inputs, one an MT input to which an MT signal is applied when a master trip of the press is to occur, an F input connection which has an F signal applied thereto during the revolution in which the master trip is to occur, and a P input which has a P signal applied thereto during each press revolution at the point in the press revolution that the master trip is to occur.

The logic circuitry for energizing and de-energizing the relay 51 which controls the ink throw mechanism is a substantial duplicate in the units of the printing press. As shown in FIG. 4, the circuit for the second unit includes a SEALED AND circuit 135 whose output is applied to the input of an amplifier 137 for energizing the relay 51. The SEALED AND gate 135 is a three input AND gate having inputs 1350, 135b, 1350 which correspond to the inputs 76a, 76b, 760 of the SEALED AND circuit 76. The input connection 135a is connected to the output of an ink ON gate 142 which is an AND gate having three inputs. One input of the ink ON gate 142 is conditioned from the output 85d of the AND gate 85 in the plate on circuitry so that the ON gate will be conditioned to supply an output to the SEALED AND circuit 135 during the press revolution when the plate mechanism has been set to throw on. Another input of the ON gate 142 has an ON conditioning signal applied thereto which is the same signal which is applied to the ON gate 60 in the plate control circuitry, and a P input has a P signal, P(3) in the case of unit B, applied thereto at the time in the press revolution that the ink ON solenoid is to be energized. The occurrence of signals on all of the inputs of the ink ON gate 142 provides an output to the input 135a to cause operation of the circuit, as in the case of the SEALED AND circuit 76 in the plate circuitry, to energize the relay 51 through the amplifier 137.

When the SEALED AND circuit 135 has effected the energization of the relay 51, the operation of an OFF AND gate 156 or an MT AND gate 157 will cause the loss of the input on the input connection 1350 of the SEALED AND circuit 135 to cause a loss of output from the circuit and the de-energization of the relay 51 to set the throw mechanism for the inker to throw the inker off. The outputs of the AND gates 156, 157 are connected to inputs of an OR NOT gate 160 whose output is connected to the input connection 1350 of the SEALED AND circuit 135. The OR NOT gate 160 has three inputs 160a, 160b, 1600. The input connection 160a is energized from the signal input originator 108 and an input is absent unless the particular printing unit is to be locked out by energization of relay 111. The input connection 16% is connected to the output of the OFF gate 156 while the input connection 1600 is connected to the output of the MT gate 157. Consequently the appearance of an output from either of the gates 156, 157 will cause the OR NOT gate 160 to lose its output to in turn cause the SEALED AND circuit 135 to lose its output and effect a tie-energization of the relay 51 and set the throw mechanism to trip off.

The OFF gate 156 of the inker control is a two input AND gate having one input connection connected to the NOT output connection 85a of the AND gate 85 in the circuitry for controlling the plate. It will be recalled that when the plate is on pressure, the AND gate 85 has an output signal. Consequently, the NOT connection 85e does not have an output when the plate is on pressure and only has an output when the AND circuit has no output signifying that the plate is not on as a result of the operation of the ON gate 60. When this is true, an output is provided on the NOT output 85:; to condition the OFF gate 156 of the inker to throw the inker to its off condition and the OFF gate 156 will have an output to throw the inker off when a P timing pulse P(4) is next applied to its P input. A P input is applied thereto at the time in each revolution of the press that the inking mechanism is to be set to throw to its 011 position. Consequently, when the plate is thrown to its off position, the output of the AND gate 85 conditions the OFF gate 156 to cause the inker to be thrown in sequence to its off condition.

The MT gate 157 is a three input AND gate. The MT gate 157 has an MT input on which a master trip signal MT appears on when a master trip is to be effected, an F input to which an F signal, F(2) in the case of unit B, is applied during the revolution in which the master trip is to be effected and a P input on which a P signal, P(4) in the case of unit B, appears at the time during the press revolution when the inker is to be thrown off.

The energization and de-energization of the relay 52 for controlling the impression throw mechanism is controlled by an impression ON gate and OFF gates 202, 206. The ON gate 180 is conditioned by the output of the AND circuit 85 in the plate to provide an output to effect the throw on of the impression cylinder when the AND circuit 85 has operated to set the plate mechanism to throw on. The AND gate 180 is a two input AND gate having one input connection to which the NOT output connection of the AND circuit 85 is connected, and a -P input on which a pulse occurs at the time in the press revolution at which the throw mechanism for the impression cylinder is to be set to throw on. The output of the ON AND gate 180 is applied to the sealed input 1850 of a SEALED AND gate which has an output connection 185d for energizing the relay 52 through an amplifier 187 to effect a throw on of the impression pressure. The SEALED AND gate 185 is a three input AND gate having input connections 1850, 185b, and 1850. The output connection 180d from the AND gate 180 is connected to the sealed input connection 185a; the input connection 185b normally has a signal applied thereto from the counter transition inhibit line 80, while the input 1850 is connected to the output of an OR NOT gate 196 which normally applies an input signal thereto unless one of gates 202, 206 for effecting a throw off of the impression pressure is operated to supply an input to the OR NOT gate 196.

The OFF AND gate 202 is a two input AND gate having an input connection connected to the NOT output connection of the AND gate 85 in the plate control circuitry and is conditioed to effect a throw off of the impression unit when the AND gate 85 in the plate control circuitry is not operated signifying that the plate throw mechanism has been set to throw off. The other input of the AND gate 202 will have a P input signal, P(7) in the case of unit B, applied thereto during the time in the revolution at which the impression throw off is to occur. Consequently, if the plate is thrown off pressure, the OFF gate 202 will operate to provide a signal which effects a throwing off of the impression in proper sequence.

The input connection 1960 of the OR NOT gate 196 is connected to the output of MI AND gate 206. The AND gate 206 is a master trip AND gate and has one input on which the conditioning signal MT appears when a master trip is to be effected, a second input upon which an F revolution signal, F (2) in the case of unit B, appears when the master trip is to be effected, and a third input upon which a P timing signal, P(7) in the case of unit B, is applied during each press revolution at the time during the press revolution that the throw oil? is to occur. The third input 196a is connected to the counter transition inhibit line 80.

During operation of the printing press, the first press unit is set during the first revolution of the press to throw on or throw off and the succeeding units are thrown on and off during succeeding press revolutions to effect the throwing on and throwing off of the printing press in sequence as a sheet moves through the printing press. It the printing press is of the type where the units operate in phase, the printing units will throw off in successive press revolutions. In the illustrated embodiment, it takes more than one press revolution for a sheet to travel from the first printing unit to the second printing unit. Consequently, the operation of the various throw mechanisms of the respective printing units will not occur at the same time in the revolution as for the same mechanism of the preceding unit and as the sheet moves through the press, and certain units of the printing press may have their plate, ink and impression motions occurring in different revolutions of the press as measured from press zero although these motions will always be set to throw on or off within 360 of press rotation.

It is also common in printing presses to have the throw on and throw off movements for a particular mechanism to be set or initiated at the same angular position'of the press. However, it is desirable to be able to set the throw on and throw off movements of a particular mechanism at different times within the press cycle and the described logic circuitry facilitates the operation in this matter.

The press includes a pulse generating means for generating a pulse at each angular position during a press revolution that a throw on or offmovement is to be set to occur and each unit will have gates as in FIG. 4 which will pass the signal during the proper press revolution to effect the throw movement. Referring to FIG. 5C, the pulse signals for effecting the throw on and the throw off of the units at the particular time in the press cycle are derived from the pulse generator 55 which is illustrated as a code wheel having a reading head 220. The code Wheel may have a series of slots therein which passes the reading head 220 at the particular time in the cycle that pulses are to be derived. 'In the illustrated embodiment pulses are derived at zero degrees, 60, 95 120, 155, 180, 215, 240, 275, 300 and 335 as measured fom the press zero. The pulses from the reading head 220 must be selected and applied to the proper input of the gates in the logic circuitry for effecting thethrow on and throw off movements. To this end, the pulses are applied through an AND gate 302 to atiming position counter 300 for counting the pulses from the reading head and providing outputs to a timing calculator or gating matrix 306. The timing counter 300 has four binary stages 300a, 300b, 300a, 300d and each stage has an output connection and a NOT output connection.

The press timing calculator or matrix 306 includes a plurality of output gates whose inputs are connected to the outputs of stages of the counter so that an output appears on a paricular one of output connections P1-P12 of the calculator when a particular count is registered in the counter. When a count of one is registered in the counter the binary stage 300d switches to its set or on condition and an output P1 appears on the outputs of the timing calculator. The second pulse counted by the counter is the 35 pulse which registers a count of- 2 in the counter. When the count of two is registered in the counter, an output P2 appears only on the P2 output of the timing calculator and the P1 output is lost. Asthe pulse generating wheel rotates, signals appear in sequence on the other P outputs asthe counter counts the pulses to indicate the angular position of the wheel and of the press. Each of the outputs from the timing gating matrix has been provided with a P signal designation P ,(1) P(12) and a degree designation to indicate their order in time and the angular position of the press at which the gate output appears.

The output signals P(1)-P(12) are applied to effect the throw on and throw off movements which are .to occur at the press position indicated by the pulse signal. Referring to FIG. 4, the output P(11) is connected to the P input 600 of the ON gate for the plate of the printing unit B. The OFF gates 62, 63 or the plate mechanism of press unit B has the timing signal P(12) applied thereto. In the inker, the inker is thrown on in response to agate conditioning signal P(3) of the timing matrix which is at the 60 position in the press revolution. When the inker is to be thrown off, the throw mechanism is set to be thrown off at the position of the press and the P(4) output is connected to the: P inputs of OFF gates for the inker. Similarly, when the impression is to be thrown on, the throw on mechanism is set at the position of the press and the P(6) output of gate 315 is connected to the ON gate for the impression cylinder. When the impression of the press unit B is to be thrown off, the mechanism is to be set in itsthrow off condition at the 180 position of the press. Consequently, the output P7 is connected to the P inputs of the off gates 202, 206.

An ON counter 332 and an OFF counter'331 are provided to supply the F and N inputs to the gates in the logic circuits for the various units. Referring to FIG. 59, the code wheel has a second reading head 330 which provides an output pulse at 345 of press revolution. This output pulse is applied to the OFF and the ON counters 331, 332 through respective AND gates 333, 334. The OFF counter 331 is a four stage counter having binary stages 331a, 331b, 331c, 331d and similarly, the counter 332 has four binary stages 332a, 332b, 3320, 332d.

The stages of the OFF counter 331 have outputs and NOT outputs which are connected to an OFF revolution gating matrix 340 having outputs F1, F2 F10 for providing the F signals. Only one of the F outputs will have an output thereon at any given time. The output signals F1-F10 indicate the revolution in which the press is rotating.

The proper F output is applied to the OFF gates 62 and the MT gates 63 in the plate control circuitry for the various units, and the MT gates 157, 206 in the ink and impression control circuitry for the various units to condition the gates to be operated to effect throw ofi' in the proper revolution after the counter has started counting the pulses. In certain presses, the throw movements of a unit of a press occur in the same press revolution and, the MT gates for throwing off the plate, ink and impression cylinders for the ,various units will be connected to the output of the same gates in the revolution gating matrices. However, in other. presses, as the illustrated press, certain units may have the plate on or plate off gate conditioned in one revolution and the impression on or the impression off gate conditioned in the following revolution as in the illustrated press.

Similarly, each of the stages of the ON revolution counter has an output and a NOT output which are connected to the inputs of gates in an ON revolution gating matrix 361. The gating matrix has outputs designated N1, N2 N10 on which outputs successively appear as the counter counts the press revolutions. The N outputs are connected to the N inputs of the ON gates 60 in the plate control circuitry of the units to effect a conditioning of these gates at the proper revolution to effect the setting of the plate throw mechanism to an ON condition and to condition the ON gates in the inker and impression circuitry.

The timing counter 300 is required, in the illustrated embodiment, to count twelve timing pulses P. Since twelve pulses does not fill the counter to capacity so that it will automatically reset, circuitry is provided for resetting the timing counter on the occurrence of the 345 pulse from the reading head 330. This also assures the accuracy of the timing counter. To this end, an AND NOT gate 370 is provided and has an output connected to reset connections 371 to each stage of the counter 300. The reset connections 371 for the stages of the counter 300 reset the counter stages to their off condition in the conventional manner when an output which is present on the connections 371 is lost and re-established. The AND NOT gate 370 maintains an output on the connections 371 unless there is an input at all three of the inputs of the AND NOT gate. Two of the inputs are grounded and will be present at all times. The third input is provided by the 345 pulse signal from the reading head 330. Consequently, the output of gate 370 is momentarily lost on the occurrence of each 345 pulse so that the counter is reset during every revolution to start counting the pulses beginning with the zero degree pulse. Consequently, the outputs of the timing counter 300 always indicate the correct angular position of the press even though the counter has a higher counting capacity.

The AND gate 302 for the timing counter 300 and the AND gates 333, 334 for the OFF revolution counter 331 and the ON revolution counter 332 are respectively conditioned to pass the pulses when the printing press is to be thrown on or off in normal operation. When the press is to be thrown on, the ON counter gate 334 and the timing counter gate 302 are conditioned to pass the pulses to the on counter and the timing counter respectively from the pulse generator. When the press is to be thrown off, the timing counter AND gate 302 and the OFF counter AND gate 333 are conditioned to pass the pulses to the timing counter and to the ofi? revolution counter respectively. The gate 333 for the off revolution counter is controlled by a bistable memory circuit 375 which may be described as an OFF RETURN memory circuit. The circuit has an on input 375a, an off input 375b, a reset input 375d and an output 375 upon which an output signal appears when the circuit 375 is on. The output 375) is applied to one input of the AND gate 333 and the other input of the AND gate is connected to the reading head 330 so that when the memory circuit 375 is set to its on condition, the off revolution counter counts the revolution pulses.

Similarly, a bistable OFF RETURN memory circuit 380 is provided for the on revolution counter. The memory circuit 380 has an on input 380a, an off input 380b, a reset output 3800! and an output connection 380 upon which an output signal appears when the memory 380 is in its on condition. The output connection 380 is connected to one input of the AND gate 334 and the other input of the AND gate 334 is connected to the reading head 330. Consequently, the AND gate 334 will pass the revolution pulses when the memory circuit 380 is on. The output connections 375 380 of the memory circuits 375, 380 are also connected to connections 385, 386 to reset terminals (d) of the stages of counter 331, 332 respectively. If no signal is present on the connections 385,

386 the counter stages remain in or switch to their off state. Consequently, the counting will always be at zero when the memory circuits for controlling the pulses to the counters are off and when turned on, the outputs therefrom on the connections 385, 386 enable the stages to respond to the pulses starting with a zero count.

From the foregoing, it can be seen that when the press is to be thrown on the application of a signal to the on input 380a of the on counter memory circuit 380 will condition the gate 334 to enable the on counter 332 to start counting the pulses indicating press revolutions and to condition the ON gates 60 in the various printing units in the proper revolution of the press to efiect a throwing on of the units in the proper sequence. Similarly, if the printing press is printing and is to be thrown off in a normal manner, the application of an input signal to the on input 375a of off counter memory circuit 375 will condition the gate 333 to pass the revolution pulses from the reading head 330 and the off revolution counter will condition the OFF gates 62 in sequence in the printing units to throw the units off in sequence.

When either the on counter or otf counter is conditioned to start counting, the AND gate 302 for the timing counter 300 is also conditioned to pass the timing pulses from the reading head 220 to the timing counter 300. The output 375 from the memory circuit 375 for the off revolution counter 331 is connected to one input of an OR gate 390 while the output conncetion 380 of the memory circuit 380 for controlling the on revolution counter is connected to the other input of the OR gate 390. The output of the OR gate 390 is connected to one input of the AND gate 362. The AND gate 302 is a two input AND gate and when there is an output from the OR gate 390 signifying that either the on revolution counter or the off revolution counter has been conditioned to count the revolution pulses, the gate 332 will pass the pulses from the reading head 220 to the timing degree counter.

The control circuitry is such that the gates in the timing matrix 306 and in the control circuits for each press unit which control the on and off movements of the plate, inker and impression are inhibited when a pulse is being applied to any of the counters. The AND gates 302, 333, 334 for the counters 300, 331, 332 have NOT outputs 302e, 333e and 334:: respectively. The NOT outputs 302e, 333a and 334a are connected as the inputs to an AND gate 395 whose output is connected to the input of a conventional amplifier 396 whose output is, in turn, connected to the counter transition inhibit line 80. The counter transition inhibit line is connected to an input of each gate in the timing matrix 306 and to sealed inputs 7612, b, 1851) of the SEALED AND circuits 76, 135, in the control circuits for each unit and prevents these circuits from being turned on while any counter is in transition. The circuits will be inhibited since the application of a pulse to turn on any of the AND gates 302, 333, 334 will cause the loss of the NOT output of the gate to cause the AND gate 395 to turn off to in turn lose the signal on the counter transistion inhibit line 80. After the SEALED AND circuits have been turned on, the loss of an input signal on the line 80 has no effect on the circuits since the inputs 76b, 135b, 1851) are sealed.

The control circuitry also includes a reset unit 397 which upon the application of power applies a delayed continuous signal to a connection 4&0 connected to each stage of the counter 300 of the counter stages to assure that they all reset to their ott condition on the application of power.

The on counter 332 operates in combination with the timing counter 300 to throw on the printing units of the press in sequence when the feeder is operated to feed sheets to the press.

The feeder may be a conventional type having a clutch control lever 772 which is moved from an off position to a first or trip slow position to engage the feeder drive clutch and to a second or run position in which the clutch is maintained engaged and control circuitry actuated to effect a run speed.

The control lever is latched into the first position when it is moved thereto by the energization of a feeder latch solenoid 437, FIG. 5B, which must be energized to enable the lever to remain in either its first or second clutch engaged position.

When the lever is moved to its first position, a first position switch 426, FIG. 6, is operated to energize a relay CR1 having normally open contacts 425CR1 and when the lever is moved to its second position, a second position switch 422 is closed to energize a relay CR2 having normally open contacts 426CR2 and normally closed contacts 427CR2 (FIG. 5B). The first position switch 420 is maintained closed when the control lever is moved to its second position (FIG. 9).

When the feeder is started by the movement of the control lever to its first position to engage the feeder clutch, the relay CR1 is energized to close its contacts 13 425CR1. A closing of the contacts 425CR1 energizes the input of a signal originator 431 ,whose input is contacted to the input of a one shot multivibrator 432 to trigger the multivibrator to its unstable state to provide an output pulse which is applied to the on terminal 435a of a feeder memory'circuit 435 of the OFF RETURN type to turn the memory circuit on and to the on terminal 488a of a bistable memory circuit 488 which is tripped oif, as explained hereinafter in response to a missingsheet detection. When the feeder memory circuit 435 is turned on, an output appears on terminal 435 of the memory circuit to energize, through an amplifier 436, a relay CR12 for energizing the feeder latch solenoid 437 for holding the clutch control lever in a clutch engaged position to drive the feeder to feed sheets. conventionally, the clutch connects the feeder to the printing press drive which is normally operating at a trip slow speed when the feeding of sheets is started. When the first position relay CR1 is energized, thefeeder will feed sheets through the press but the printing units will not he thrown on.

When the press is operating a feeder trip relay. is always energized. The trip relay CR3 (FIG. 6) has normally open contacts 430CR3 (FIG. B) which when closed supply and input through a signal originator 454 to an AND NOT circuit 455 for supplying a turn off signal to the feeder lmemory circuit 435 when an input is missing to the AND NOT gate 455. g

The printing units are thrown on by moving the feeder control lever to its second position to energize the relay CR2 to close its contacts 426CR2 and to open its contacts 427CR2 (FIG. 5B). The closing of the contacts 426CR2 connects the input of a signal originator 440 to the power supply to provide an input to a one shot multivibrator 441 to trigger it to its unstable state and to provide an output pulse on an output connection 442 which is applied to the ON terminal 444a of a bistable speed memory circuit 444 which is of the OFF RETURN type. The application of the input signal to the on terminal 444a of the speed memory 444 sets the memory to provide an output on the output terminal 444 of the memory circuit to effect the energization of a relay CR10 through an amplifier 446. he relay CR10 causes the press to accelerate to run speed and todrive the feeder at run speed. The output terminal 444 also provides the ON conditioning signal for the ON gates of each machine unit; and is connected to the gates by a connection 447.

The speed memory 444 also has an olf terminal 444b and a reset terminal 444a.

The signal on the output connection 442 from the one shot multivibrator 441 is also applied to the on terminal 448a of a bistable run memory circuit 448 of the OFF RETURN type. The memory. circuit 448 has an output terminal 448 an off terminal 448b, a reset terminal 448d and a not output terminal 4482. When the OFF RETURN memory circuit 448 is turned on by the signal from the one shot multivibrator 441, the output on its output connection 4481 provides an input signal via a connection 451 to an input 452a of a two input AND gate 452 whose output is connected to turn on the on counter memory circuit 380 to enable the on counter to start counting pulses. The other input for the AND gate 452, input 452b, is connected to the reading head 330 to apply revolutionpulses from the reading head 330 to the AND gate 452. When the run memory circuit 448 is operated to its on condition, it conditions the gate to pass the 345 pulses from the reading head 330. The output of the gate 452 is applied to the on input 380:: of the on counter memory circuit 380 which, when turned on, conditions theAND gate 334 to pass the revolution pulses to the on revolution counter 332 to start counting revolutions. As explained hereinbefore, the, 'on output 380 of the on memory circuit 380 is also connected through the OR gate 390 to condition the timing counter AND gate 302 to pass the pulses from the reading head 220 to the timing counter 300. The timing counter will 14 now operate to apply the timing pulses to the proper logic circuitry and during the various press revolutions, the on counter will condition the proper gates to eflFect a throwing on of the printing press units and this will be done in sequence.

The output of the AND gate 452 for turning on the on memory circuit 380 is alsoconnected to the OFF terminal 375b of the off counter memory circuit 375 through an AND gate 453 to assure that the off counter is not operating. The AND gate 453 is normally conditioned to be operated by the output from AND gate 452 by a NOT pile changing signal OT).

I The de-energization of feeder trip relay CR3 (FIG. 6) during feeder operation will cause a tripping of the feeder and a throwing off of the printing press.

The de-energization of relay CR3 opens its 430CR3 contacts (FIG. SE) to lose the input signal to the signal originator 454 whose output is connected to an AND NOT gate 455 for turning off the feeder memory circuit 435 which de-energizes the feeder solenoid 437 to trip the feeder control lever to its off position. As described above, the AND NOT gate 455 has its input 455a connected to the output of the signal origniator 454, and an input 455b connected to the output 488i from a bistable missing-sheet detector memory circuit 488 of the OFF RETURN memory type. The loss of any input to the feeder AND gate 455 will cause an. output on the output connection 455d which is connected to the off terminal 435k of the feeder memory circuit 435 to turn the circuit off to, in turn, trip the feeder by causing the de-energization of solenoid 437. This causes the feeder control lever to trip off to open switches 420, 422.

The tripping of the feeder trip relay CR3 also effects the closing of the contacts 47CR2 on the de-energization of the relay CR2 to connect the input of a signal originator 460 to the power source to provide an output signal to an AND gate 461 and to the off terminal 44811 of the run memory circuit 448 to turn the memory circuit off. When the memory circuit 448 is turned off, a NOT output appears on an output terminal 4481a. The NOT output on the terminal 448a is used to provide the OFF conditioning signal for the off inputs of the OFF gates in the control circuits for each press and is connected to the gates through an OR gate 622, an amplifier 456 and a connection 457. The NOT output on terminal 448e also initiate operation of the off revolution counter 331 and is applied to an input of an OR gate 462 (FIG. 5B) which has its output connection 463 connected to an input 464a (FIG. 5C) of an AND gate 464 whose output is connected to the input terminal 375a of the off counter memory circuit 375. The AND gate 464 is a two input gate having input terminals 464a and 464b. The input connection 464b is connected to the reading head B to apply the 345 pulse from the reading head to the input 464b of AND gate 464. Consequently, when the feeder is tripped, the first 345 pulse will be passed by the AND gate 464 to turn on the off counter memory circuit 375. The off counter memory circuit 375 when switched on conditions, as explained hereinbefore, the gate 333 for passing the pulses from the reading head 330 to the off revolution counter 331 to start counting the revolutions of the press. Also as noted hereinbefore, the output connection 375 of the OE memory circuit 375 is connected to one input of the OR gate 390 whose output conditions the timing counter gate 302 to pass pulses to the timing counter 300. Consequently, an output from the gate 464 causes the operation of the off counter 355 and the timing counter 300 to appy pulses to the logic circiuts and to operate the ofi circuits at the proper time in the rotation of the press to trip off the units in sequence with the revolutions during which the unit trips off being controlled by the revolution counter 331. Also, the ON output 375i of the 013? counter memory circuit 375 is connected through an AND gate 459 and an OR gate 468 to the off terminal 38% of the on counter 15 memory circuit 380. The AND gate 459 has a second input condition by a last unit on signal derived as explained hereinafter and prevents the off memory from turning off the on counter 361 if it is operating to throw on the units until the last unit is thrown on.

During normal trip off, it is desirable that the speed of the press be maintained until the last unit is tripped off. It will be recalled that on starting, the press was brought up to speed by the output on the terminal 444 of the memory circuit 444. The memory circuit 444 was turned on by the energization of relay CR2 which also turned on memory circuit 448 for starting the on counter and the timing counter. When the relay CR2 is de-energized to turn the memory 448 off and start the off counter and the timing counter operating, the condition of the speed memory circuit 444 is not changed and the press will continue to operate at run speed until the memory circuit 444 is turned off to remove the output from its terminal 444 The speed memory 444 is turned off to cause the press to change to trip slow speed by an output signal from the AND gate 461 when the plate of the last unit is set to off. The AND gate 461 has three inputs 461a, 461 b and 4610. The input 461b is connected to the output of the signal originator 460 whose input is connected to the source of power by the contacts 427CR2 of the relay CR2. when the relay CR2 is de-energized on the tripping of the feeder. The input terminal 461c is connected to the NOT output terminal 380a of the on counter memory circuit 380 which has an output thereon only when the on revolution counter 332 is not operating. Consequently, the memory circuit 444 will not be switched to its off condition as long as the on revolution counter is operating to cause the units to turn on. The third input 4610 for the AND gate 461 is from the NOT output of the SEALED AND circuit 76 for controlling the plate throw mechanism of the last printing unit and an input appears thereon when the SEALED AND circuit loses its output to set the plate cylinder to go oil? pressure. When this happens with conditioning signals on 461a and 461a, the AND gate 461 turns the memory circuit 444 off to cause the press to operate at a trip slow speed.

The units do not throw back on during the throw oif operation since the on revolution counter memory circuit is turned off by a signal from an AND gate 462 which has one input conditioned by the output of the off counter memory circuit 375 and one input conditioned from the output of the SEALED AND circuit 76 of the last printing unit. Consequently when the off memory circuit 375 is turned on to throw off the units an output appears from the AND gate 459 which is applied through an OR gate 468 to the off terminal 38% of the on revolution counter memory circuit to turn off the latter and cause the gate 334 to blork pulses from the reading head 330.

Under certain conditions, it is desirable to effect a master trip of the press. The master trip of a press in the illustrated and preferred embodiment causes all units to trip off without delay. To effect a master trip, a master trip OFF RETURN memory circuit 465 is turned on by applying an on signal to its on terminal 465a. When the master trip memory circuit 465 is turned on, an output appears at its output terminal 465 which is applied to the input of a signal amplifier 467 having an output connection 466 connected to the MT terminals of the master trip gates 63 of the printing units to provide the MT conditioning signal. The output of the signal amplifier 467 is also applied by a connection 469 to an input of an OR gate 468 having its output connected to the off terminal 38Gb to turn off the on revolution counter in the event that the logic circuitry has been operating to throw on the printing press. The master trip output 466 is also connected to one input of the OR gate 462 Whose output is applied to the input 46411 of the AND gate 464 for turning on the off revolution memory circuit 375 to condition the off counter 331 to count the pulses from the revolution counting head 330. The F (1) and F(2) outputs of the OFF gating matrix are applied to the F inputs of respective ones of the master trip gating circuits for the various units so that each of the throw motions is conditioned to be operative in response to a master trip signal in either the first or second revolution of the printing press. It is necessary to make two press revolutions to effect the throw off since, for certain units, the throw off of the plate and impressions occur in successive press revolutions.

The time of the throw off within a press revolution is determined by the timing outputs from the timing matrix 306 for the timing counter 300 which is set into operation through the OR gate 390 by the switching on of the off revolution memory circuit 375.

The master trip memory circuit 465 is triggered to its on condition by the. output of a signal originator 472 having its input connected to the power supply through the normally open contacts 471CR4 of a relay CR4 Which is energized normally and is de-energized in response to the operation of any of a plurality of master trip switches 472a to effect the trip 0E.

The feeder memory 435 (FIG. 5B) is turned 01f during a master trip in response to a loss of signal on its terminal 435d. As noted hereinbefore, the feeder memory circuit 435 is of the OFF RETURN type and in this type of memory circuit, an input must be maintained on the terminal 435d or the memory circuit immediately trips to an off condition. The terminal 435d of the feeder memory circuit 435 is connected to the output of an AND gate 475 having an input 475a connected to a NOT output 46'5e of the master trip memory circuit 465. The AND gate 475 also has an input 47512 connected to receive a reset signal from a reset unit 479 which has a delayed output on the application of power to assure resetting of the various units and which also supplies a reset signal to the terminal 465d of the master trip memory circuit. From the foregoing it can be seen that when the master trip memory circuit is tripped to its on condition, it loses its NOT output which, in turn, causes the AND gate 475 to lose its output to the terminal 435d of the feeder memory circuit 435 to cause the feeder memory circuit 435 to trip to its ofi condition. This causes the feeder solenoid to be de-energized to disconnect the feeder from the press drive and also to de-energize the relays CR1, CR2. The output of the AND gate 475 is also applied to reset terminals 444d and 448d and the loss of the output from AND gate 475 so that a master trip also causes these memory circuits to immediately turn off.

On starting after a master trip or after any shutdown, it will be noted that the AND gate 475 assures that the feeder memory 435- is in off condition until the master trip memory circuit 465 has been set. The master trip memory circuit is turned off when starting by a reset signal which appears on 465b from the output 432 of the one shot multivibrator which also turns the memory 435. This output also turns on missing sheet memory 488.

Provision is also made for tripping the press units off in sequence in response to a detection on the feed board indicating that a sheet is missing at the front stops of the feed board on either the feed side or the gear side of the press. Missing sheet switches 480, 481 for the gear side and feed side respectively are shown in FIG. 5B. These switches respectively control the application of signals to two inputs of a three input AND NOT gate 483. Normally, the gate 483 has no output on its output connection 483d and the opening of either the switch 480 or 481 to remove an input from the gate 483 will cause an output on the output connection 483d. The output connection 483d is connected to one input of an AND gate 485 having its second input connected to a signal originator 484 having its input connected to the power supply through the normally open contacts 485CR8 of a relay CR8 which is normally energized when the press is operating. If either of the switches 480, 481 open, an output appears on the output connection 483d to provide a missing sheet signal which is transmitted by the AND gate 485 to turn oif a missing sheet memory 488. The missing sheet memory when turned off loses an output at its terminal 488 and the loss of output at the terminal 488 causes the loss of an input to the AND NOT gate 455. The loss of an input on the gate 455 provides an output signal on the output 455d of the gate 455 to the terminal 435 h to turn the feeder memory 435 off to deenergize the latch solenoid 437 and in turn the relays CR1, CR2 to stop the feeder and to trip off the units by de-energizing relays CR1, CR2.

Each sheet detector for operating switches 480, 481 may comprise a pendulum finger 500 which is swung to the position shown in FIG. 8 by the arrival of a sheet at the front edge of the feed board. When in this position, it allows a corresponding arm 502 on a shaft 503 to be swung by a cam to a position underneath the finger to position a stop 504 in the path of a rocker member 506 which is oscillated by a cam 508 which has a low part into which a cam follower 509 for oscillating the rocker member 506 will drop if the rocker member is not stopped by the stop. Just prior to the time that the cam 508 allows the rocker member to move toward the stop 504, the stop 504 and arm 502 are allowed, by the low portion on an operating cam similar to the cam 508, to be moved inwardly toward the finger 500 by a spring acting on a cam follower for operating shaft 503. If the finger has not been swung upwardly by a sheet, the arm movement will be blocked by the finger and the stop 504 will not be positioned to stop the rocker member from being oscillated by the cam 508. The oscillation of the latter is utilized in the illustrated embodiment to operate a corresponding one of the detector switches 480, 481.

The feeder for the printing press includes a pile feeder which is of a known type that enables piles of sheets to be fed, one at a time, in succession without interrupting or stopping the printing operation. One such feeder is shown and described in United States Letters Patent No. 2,701,136.

In feeding sheets from the top of a file, it is conventional to use sheet lifting and separating suckers 510, see FIG. 7, for gripping the trailing edge of the sheet and transferring the sheet to forwarding suckers 511 which forward the sheets in underlapped relationship to conventional feed rolls at the end of the feed board which receives the sheets from the pile feeder. The sheets are fed in underlapped relationship down the feed board to any type of conventional sheet registration means at the forward end of the feed board and feeding means for feeding the sheets from the forward end of the feed board to the printing press.

The vacuum to the sheet separating suckers 510 is supplied through a solenoid valve 512 from a source of vacuum and when the solenoid 513 of the solenoid valve 512 is energized, vacuum is supplied to the sheet lifting suckers 510, 511 and these suckers are then rendered capable of separating a sheet from the top of the pile. If only the vacuum to the suckers is interrupted during normal operation, the press would conventionally continue to operate until sheet detectors actuate the switches 480, 481 to indicate a missing sheet and set up a feeder trip operation and the press throw off operation as described above.

While sheets have heretofore been fed to a printing press in a manner which enables continuous operation of the printing press without stopping or slowing the press to replenish the pile from which sheets are being fed, problems have been encountered in changing the pile of sheets in the delivery. In conventional deliveries, the sheets are delivered to a pile hoist which is automatically lowered in response to a pile height detector as the pile builds up thereon to prevent the top of the pile from building up into the delivery mechanism. As the pile continues to build up, the pile of delivered sheets must be removed from the delivery. This has been conventionally accomplished by lowering the pile hoist to a position which allows the insertion of an auxiliary pile support means in the form of a rack or platen above the pile to intercept the sheets being delivered and to allow the pile on the main hoist to be removed. (See: Patent No. 3,140,- 091.)

One of the problems involved in conventional deliveries is that the printing press is delivering sheets at the same time that the auxiliary platen is being inserted. This presents problems in acquiring the proper insertion of the platen and in accomplishing the insertion without losing several printed sheets or combing the pile of sheets so that problems are subsequently encountered in handling the pile. These problems are compounded as the speed of the press is increased.

The problem of changing the pile in. the delivery could, of course, be overcome by stopping the press. However, this is highly undesirable and in accordance with the present invention, the press and feeder speed are maintained but the feeding of sheets to the press is momentarily stopped to allow the insertion of the platen. In the illustrated embodiment, the feeding of the sheets is stopped at the feeder and the inkers are thrown off at the time that they would normally be thrown off in response to a no sheet detection on the feed board as a result of a missing sheet. In the illustrated embodiment when the feeding of sheets is resumed, the inkers come back on in sequence as the sheets again move through the press. It will be understood that it may become necessary to throw off the impression pressure in those cases where the sheet thickness is such that the printing cylinder of the press would print onto the impression, or in the case of letter press printing, the tympan cylinder.

In the illustrated embodiment, the auxiliary platen in the delivery is automatically lowered while the main pile is being removed from the delivery to prevent the build up of the sheets into the delivery mechanism.

Referring to FIG. 10, the delivery mechanism includes a conventional chain delivery 515 for delivering sheets from the printing press to a skid S on a main hoist 516 which is supported in the delivery in a conventional manner to be raised and lowered by a motor 517 operated under the control of the operator. When sheets are being delivered to the skid on the main hoist, the main hoist is lowered automatically in response to a photocell detector 524. As a pile of sheets builds up on the skid S, a light beam to the photocell detector 524 is broken and the photocell detector provides a signal to effect an incremental lowering of the main hoist. As long as the light beam is not broken, the photocell detector 524 does not lower the hoist.

Conventional mechanisms for lowering the main hoist 516 in response to the photocell detector 524 are well known to those skilled in the art. In the illustrated embodiment, the main hoist is shown as being lowered by a pawl and ratchet mechanism controlled by the photocell detector 524. The photocell detector 524 controls the energization of a relay MD having normally closed contacts 518MB in a circuit for energizing a solenoid 519 for controlling the operation of the pawl and ratchet mechanism. The pawl and ratchet mechanism comprises an arm 520 which is reciprocated from the main drive for the press. The arm 520 has a pawl 521 pivoted thereto and adapted to cooperate with a ratchet wheel 522 which is fixed to a shaft 523 which is rotatable to raise and lower the main hoist when the latter is not being raised and lowered by the motor 517. Suitable interlocking contacts may be provided when the motor 517 is energized to prevent the operation of the pawl and ratchet mechanism. The pawl 521 is biased to a position out of operative relationship to the ratchet wheel by a spring 525 and is moved into a ratcheting position by the energization of the solenoid 519 which is connected between the arm 520 and the pawl 521.

The delivery of the press shown in the drawings has a pair of rails 526 (see FIG. 12) for supporting an articulated auxiliary platen 528. The rails 526 extend forwardly and rearwardly on the outside of the delivery so as not to interfere with the falling sheets. Each of the rails 526 is suspended by a cable 530 connected to the rail toward its forward end and a cable 531 connected to the rail adjacent its rearward end. The cables 530, 531 are trained around pulleys, which are adapted to rotate rela tive to their supporting shafts, and are wound up on drums 534 on the opposite ends of a shaft 535. The weight of the rails 526 and the weight of the platen normally tends to unwind the cables from the wind up drums 534. The drums, however, are held from unwinding by a hydraulic cylinder 536 having a piston rod connected to a rack 537 which meshes with a gear 538 on the shaft 535 so that the pulleys cannot unwind unless the cylinder is connected to drain so that the piston rod can move into the cylinder. Normally a solenoid 540 of a solenoid valve 541 controls the connection of the head end of the cylinder to drain. The valve is a three position valve and when the solenoid 540 is energized the head end of the cylinder is connected to drain to allow the piston rod to move inwardly of the cylinder to allow the hoist to lower. When a solenoid 542 is energized the valve is shifted to supply pressure to the cylinder and when neither solenoid is energized the connection to the cylinder is blocked by the valve.

The photocell detector 524 normally operates to deenergize, when the pile is not breaking the light beam thereto, the solenoid 519 for effecting a lowering of the main hoist. When the auxiliary platen is in position to receive sheets, the detector 524 controls the solenoid 540 so that the platen is lowered in response to the detector.

The articulated platen 528 is made of a plurality of sections hinged together and supported on the rails by rollers 543. The hinged sections enable the platen to be moved rearwardly on the rails 526 to a position shown in dot-dash lines in FIG. 10. The articulated platen is moved on the rails 526 by the operation of a hydraulic piston cylinder motor 545 (FIG. 14) connected to drive a chain 546 on each side of the platen for moving the auxiliary platen between its positions (FIG. 13). Each chain 546 is connected to the auxiliary platen at the forward end, passes rearwardly over a respective sprocket 547, around a respective sprocket 548, upwardly around a respective sprocket 549 and along the underside of the adjacent rail 526 forwardly toward the delivery end, over a respective sprocket 552 and around a sprocket 554 to connect to the auxiliary platen adjacent the connection of the other end of the chain. The described sprockets, etc. are duplicated for each of the chains 546. When the sprockets 548 are rotated in one direction, the chains move the platen in and when the opposite direction the chain moves the platen out. It will be noted that when the platen is in its withdrawn position, it does not interfere with sheets falling from the delivery mechanism.

The pressure and drain connections to the hydraulic motor 545 for operating the platen are controlled by a solenoid valve 555. Solenoid valve 555 controls the connection of the motor 545 to pressure and drain and when a solenoid 556 is energized the connections are such that the motor causes the rack to be inserted while if a solenoid 557 is energized the connections of motor to pressure and drain are such so as to operate the motor in a direction to withdraw the rack.

The articulated platen is not shown or described in detail. Sutfice it to say that the platen may be constructed in a manner similar to that shown in United States Patent No. 3,140,091, issued July 7, 1964 to Peter M. Reif and Robert E. Lindemann.

When it is desired to change the pile in the delivery, a switch 600 (FIG. A) is depressed by the operator to energize a relay 602CDR through a circuit 603. The circuit 603 includes normally open contacts 605CR1 of the relay CR1 (s e FIG. 6) which is energized as described above when the press is operating in its normal manner to print sheets; therefore, the contacts 605CR1 will be closed when a pile change is to be initiated. The relay CDR has self-holding contacts 604CDR in parallel with switch 600.

The energization of the relay CDR closes its contacts 606CDR in a circuit for connecting the input of a signal originator 607 to the power supply to provide an output from the signal originator. The output connection of the signal originator has been designated by the reference numeral 608 (FIG. 5A) and this connection is connected as one input of an AND gate 610. The AND gate 610 is a two-input AND gate and the second input, designated by the reference numeral 611, is connected to the P2 output of the gating matrix for the timing calculator. Consequently, at the proper time in the press revolution, a signal will appear on the input 611 and when the gate 610 is conditioned by the output from the signal originator 607, the gate 610 operates to provide an output on its output connection 612 which is applied to the on input 614a of an OFF RETURN memory circuit 614 to turn the memory circuit on.

When the memory circuit 614 is turned on, an output on its output terminal 614 connected to a connection 615 operates a one shot multivibrator 616 which provides an output pulse on connection 618 which is connected to the on input 620a of an OFF RETURN memory circuit 620 to turn on the memory circuit. When the OFF RETURN memory 620 circuit is turned on, it supplies, at its output 620 an input signal over a connection 623 to the OR gate 622. Consequently, when the memory 620 is turned on, the OR gate 622 is operated to supply an off conditioning signal to all of the OFF gates of the printing units as described above. The units, however, do not start throwing off at this time since the off counter 331 is not yet operative to provide off revolution signals to the gates in the logic circuitry for the units.

The output from the one shot multivibrator 616 which was operated through the AND gate 610 and the OFF return memory 614 when the relay CDR was energized is also applied to the on input 630a of an OFF RETURN memory circuit 630 which when turned on supplies a conditioning signal to an AND gate 633 for controlling the energization of a relay DR1 for de-energizing the solenoid for supplying vacuum to the feeder. The AND gate 633 is a three-input AND gate and has one input connected to the output terminal 630 of the OFF RETURN memory circuit 630, a second input connected to the connection 608 from the signal originator 607 which was activated by the energization of the relay CDR, and a third input connected to the P7 output of the timing calculator so that the AND gate 633 operates in the same revolution as the AND gate 610 but at a later angular position. When the AND gate 633 operates, it supplies an output signal to a relay driver 634 whose output is connected to effect energization of the relay DR1. The energization of the relay DR1 opens its normally closed contacts 636DR1 in the circuit for energizing the solenoid 513 for controlling the application of a vacuum to the feeder. The opening of these contacts de-energizes the solenoid and cuts off the vacuum from the sheet gripping suckers in the feeder to render the suckers incapable of separating and transferring a sheet.

The AND circuit 633 for controlling the energization of relay DR1 is a SEALED AND circuit and when operated, will maintain an output even if the signals are lost in its inputs to which the timing pulse is applied and to which the output of signal originator 607 is applied. The relay DR1, however, will be de-energized when the OFF RETURN memory circuit 630 is turned off. The SEALED AND circuit 633 also has a reset connection 633d which is connected to the output 614f of the OFF RETURN memory circuit 614 to assure that the circuit is off at the time an output pulse appears from the multivibrator 616. w

The ON output 614i of the memory circuit 614 is also applied to one input of an OR NOT gate 635 (lower portion of FIG. A) or supplying the last unit on input to AND gate 459 (FIG. 5C) which operates to turn off the on counter memory circuit when the OFF memory: circuit 375 is turned on. The input from the memory circuit 614 causes the OR NOT gate 635 to lose its output to the AND gate 459 so that it cannot operate to turn off the ON memory circuit during a pile changing operation. However, an output from an AND gate 650 is connected by a diode 669 to the output of the OR NOT gate 635 so that the AND gate 459 will operate when the OFF memory circuit is initially turned on to turn 'off the ON counter. v

The operation of the OFF RETURN memory circuit 614 in response to energization of the relay CDR inaddition to supplying an input to the one shot multivibrator 616 to effect the application of an off signal to the gates of the printing units andtheenergization of relay DR1, also has its output 614i connected by connection 615 to the input of a two-input AND gate 640' (upper right portion of FIG. 5A). The AND gate 640 has its other input connected to the press zero from the gating matrix of the timing counter so that the AND gate is conditioned to pass the 0 pulses when the OFF RETURN memory circuit 614 is turned on. The output 640d of the AND gate 640 is connected to the input of a counter 642 made up of four scale of two counting stages. The counter '642 counts the revolution pulses and a gating matrix 642a connected to the stages of the counter has outputs C6, C12 and C16 upon which an output signal appears at the sixth. twelfth and sixteenth revolutions.

After six press revolutions from the time that the counter is started, an output will appear on the output C6 of the matrix and this pulse output is utilized to effect a tie-energization of the relay DR1 so that the feeder vacuum solenoid is again energized and the feeding of sheets again started. The output pulse C6 is applied to an input 6501) of an AND gate 650. The AND gate 650 has its input 650a connected to the output of the SEALED AND circuit 633, which has been previously operated in response to the relay CDR, as described above, and its input 6500 connected to the output 652i of an OFF RE- TURN memory circuit 652. The OFF RETURN memory circuit 652 has its ON terminal 652a connected to the output of the multivibrator 616 so that it is turned on at feeding of sheets from the feeder for six revolutions. If

these sheet detector switches broke the circuit to any of the inputs to AND NOT gate 483 and the latter lost its output, this would effect through the AND gate 485, the OFF RETURN memory circuit 488, the AND NOT gate 455, and the OFF RETURN memory circuit 435, the deenergization of the feeder solenoid 437 to trip the feeder from the press. In accordance with the invention, the feeder is not to be tripped and, preferably, the press is to continue to'run at operating speed. The closing of the contacts 657DR2 prevents the sheet detector from tripping the feeder.

The energization of the relay DR2 also effects the insertion of the auxiliary rack into the delivery. The relay DR2 has contacts 659DR2 in a circuit 660 for energizing a relay LOR (upper part of FIG. 5A). The circuit 660 includes normally open contacts 661CDR of the relay CDR which has now been energized :as described above and the normally open contacts 662RIR of a relay RIR which is energized through a platen insertion limit switch 664 which is closed except when the platen is in its inserted position for intercepting sheets. Consequently, the closing of the contacts 659DR2 as described effects the energization of the relay LOR. The relay LOR has self-holding contacts 665LOR to maintain the relay LOR energized independently of the subsequent opening of the contacts 659DR2.

The energization of the relay LOR closes its normally open contacts 666LOR and 667LOR in circuits for energizing relays IPR and IPRA respectively. The energization of the relays IPR and IPRA close normally open contacts in the control circuits of the printing units to maintain the impression relays and the plate relays 51, 52 energized independently of the operation of the logic circuitry which would normally effect the energization and de-energization of the relays. The contacts 668IPR are shown in FIG. 4 for the unit and as shown in there, the contacts connect the input of the drive amplifier for the respective relay to the power supply to maintain the relay energized. Each printing unit has contacts of one or the other of the relay IPR and IPRA. in the circuits for energizing the plate and impression relays.

When the AND gate 650 operates to energize the relay DR2 as above described to energize the relay LOR to lock the impression and plate circuits and to effect to de-energization of relay DR1, the output of the AND gate 650 also operates through the relay driver 656 to energize the relay DR4. The energization of the relay DR4 opens normally closed contacts 674DR4 in series with the relay contacts 426CR2 (FIG. 5B) which, as above described,

-; were closed to supply an input signal to the ON terminal terminal 63Gb of the OFF RETURN memory circuit 630. i

This turns the memory circuit 630 off to cause a loss to the non-sealed input of the SEALED AND circuit 633 which in turn causes the AND gate to operate to its off condition to de-energize the relay DR1 to again initiate the feeding of sheets. t

The output of the AND gate 650 which is applied through the AND gate 654 to the OFF RETURN memory circuit 630 to turn off the circuit and effect a deenergization of the relay DR1 is also applied to energize relays DR2, DR4 through a relaydriver 656. In view of the delay provided by the timing pulse P7 in operating gate 654 to de-energ'ize relay DR1, the relays DR2, DR4 will be picked up in advance of the dropping out of the relay DR1. Energization of the relay DR2 closes contacts 657DR2 (FIG. 5B) which provide an output clamp on the output of .the AND NOT gate 483 controlled by the sheet detector switches 480, 481 so that the sheet detector switches will not effect a tripping off of the feeder when they open due to the sheet gap caused by the non- 444a of the speed memory circuit 444. It will be recalled that when the speed memory 444 isturned on, an on signal is supplied to the ON gates over the on connection 447 and the relay CR10 is energized to cause the press to operate at its Operating speed.

The energization of the relay DR4 also closes its normally open contacts 476DR4 connected in parallel with the normally closed contacts 427CR2 of the relay CR2. Consequently, the energization of the relay DR4 has the Same result as the de-energization of the feeder control relay CR2 and the closing of the contacts 476DR4 supplies an off signal to. the run memory circuit 448 to turn this memory circuit off. It will be recalled from the foregoing description that when the memory circuit 448- is turned off, a signal appears on its NOT output 448a which is applied through an OR gate 462 to the AND 464 so that on the occurrence of the next 345 pulse a turning on of the OFF revolution counter memory circuit 375 will be effected to start the operation of the OFF revolution counter 331. Consequently, when the relay DR4 is energized on the sixth revolution, the OFF memory counter starts to count the revolutions to supply oif signals to the OFF gates in the logic circuits. This coincides in the illustrated embodiment with the arrival 

